


Kept omega

by thefirecrest



Series: Hughie gets fucked [4]
Category: The Boys (TV 2019)
Genre: Alpha Becca Butcher, Alpha Billy Butcher, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe, Dubious Consent, Implied Mpreg, Multi, Omega Hughie Campbell, Personal Assistant Hughie Campbell, Rating May Change, Sexism, Supe Becca Butcher, Supe Billy Butcher, couples that listen to spice girls together stay togehter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-03
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2020-10-06 07:40:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20503301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefirecrest/pseuds/thefirecrest
Summary: In an alternate universe where Billy and Becca Butcher are supes working for Vought, the power couple are finally ready to have kids. Only problem is that as an alpha-alpha pair, they aren't biologically compatible. The solution? Find an omega to seduce into their bed and carry their pups for them. Luckily for them, there's already a perfectly compatible omega nearby (and who is cute to boot).Enter Hughie Campbell. Omega and PA for Madelyn Stillwell. His life is about to change suddenly and dramatically.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hmmm... Where am I going with this?? I don't know. All I know is that I couldn't get the plot bunny of alpha couple Billy/Becca having their way with a sweet omega Hughie out of my head. Well see how I do if I ever get around to updating the second part lmaaooo
> 
> Also. This is my first ever A/o/b fic so be kind to me. Thanks. :))
> 
> Edit: So I did get around to updating the second part! Hooray!! But also, I have no idea how long this will be or how many chapters it will be. So far I've been doing short one or two shot stories for this fandom. I have a rather bad habit with keeping up my longer running projects. Bluhh. So I suppose we'll see if this was a good or bad idea lol.

Hughie felt like he was being watched. Which wasn’t exactly a novel feeling. He often felt gazes of various alphas watching him as he went about the day. An annoyance but ultimately harmless, and there wasn’t really much he could do about it anyway. Unless he could somehow single handedly dismantle centuries old societal gender-roles. Like that was going to happen.

But this gaze felt different. It felt… Dangerous somehow. Every omegan instinct in his body was on edge whispering that he was in danger. But his discrete glances around revealed not a thing out of place.

Hughie shook his head and readjusted the documents in his arms as he marched through the foyer of the New York Vought building. Maybe he was just being paranoid. His heat would be coming up in a few weeks meaning his hormones were rather on the fritz. It was probably just all in his imagination. He didn’t have time to indulge his every little instinct at the moment either. He had to get these documents to Stillwell before the terrifying woman scolded him for being late.

Hughie pushed his way past several people, his long legs aiding him in covering as much ground as possible as he raced for the elevator. He tried his best to walk as fast as he could without all out jogging but, by the annoyed looks around him, he wasn’t doing a very good job of it. It wasn’t really his fault though! The costume department had taken their sweet time getting these documents to him. In fact, they hadn’t even bothered printing them all out before he had arrived to pick up. What started off as a half an hour head start turned into a rush for his career. Stillwell was not known for her patience or mercy. And Hughie would rather not like the terrifying beta woman to dig her claws into him for being late.

Thankfully he was rather on the tall side for an omega, even for certain alphas (it tended to scare off potential mates). He made his way to the elevator with ease, smiling disarmingly at a beta man he had to cut past just to squeeze onto it. Hughie didn’t like to use his (quote on quote) omegan wiles to get his way, but at the moment he really needed to be on an elevator and there just wasn’t space for the beta.

Several floors later the elevator had thinned out. Even further up, where most employees weren’t permitted, Hughie was finally alone.

It was then that the feeling of being watched came back in full force. Now by himself with no one nearby, he felt more exposed and on edge. But clearly he was alone. Unless Translucent, the creepy bastard, was watching him. Hughie awkwardly swiped at the empty space in the elevator hoping to maybe find and invisible peep. His flailing hands blew through empty air.

Sighing at his paranoid, he stood back up straight and readjusted himself right as the elevator pinged again and the door opened up. He couldn’t help it when he gave a sudden start when a person walked in.

“Oh- Oh my god, Hughie. I’m so sorry, did I startle you?”

Starlight was staring at him with wide concerned eyes. The alpha’s entire demeanor put Hughie at ease once more. The feeling of being stalked faded away. He let out a big sigh.

“Hey, Annie,” he greeted. “No um… I’m just running a bit late for a meeting with Stillwell and I’m kinda on edge about it?”

The blonde alpha let out a sweet giggle at that.

Hughie rather liked Annie, or Starlight rather. The two had met by sheer coincidence at a park back when Annie had only first been allowed to join The Twelve. He hadn’t recognized her back then but her gentle demeanor and genuine kindness, so unlike most alphas, made him feel at ease around her. She had been upset about someone related to work. Hughie had been moping that his at-the-time beta girlfriend of three years, Robin, had broke it off with him.

The two hit it off almost immediately. Hughie had never felt so respected and treated as an equal by another alpha before, let alone a supe (seeing as he worked in such close quarters with them). The latter fact wasn’t so surprising though as all supes were alphas and alphas tend to be…

Well they tend to be complete knotheads at the risk of sounding sexist.

Not Annie though. Their friendship struck quick and fast. Annie never pushed any boundaries with Hughie and, if he was being honest, it cause him to develop a smallish crush on the gorgeous blonde supe.

“Oh dang,” Annie said sympathetically. “That sounds rough. I hope you make it in time. And if you have any trouble just let me know and I’ll try to see if there’s anything I can do to help.”

As the youngest and newest member of The Twelve, Starlight didn’t really have any say or job security, so her words didn’t really mean much. But it was the feelings that counted. Her willingness to help made Hughie smile brightly. He shot her the sweetest omegan smile he could muster and watched as she flushed prettily.

“Thanks, Annie,” he said. “I’ll ah… I’ll text you if Stillwell fires me.” He chuckled somewhat nervously.

They rode the elevator until they reached their floor and got off together but sadly had to head off in different directions. Annie likely to The Twelve meeting room and Hughie off to Stillwell’s office. They waved goodbye and went on their way.

When she left his side, Hughie slowly but surely started to feel that familiar dangerous feeling of being watched come back. He swallowed and hastened his steps, hoping to maybe out run the sensation? It didn’t do much to help. As he walked he passed by that truly gaudy bronze statue of The Twelve.

Hughie found his eyes briefly surveying the large sculpture. Despite how much he disliked the rather egotistical piece of art it never failed to catch his eye. He could spare half a minute looking at it, he decided. He saw that they had yet to replace Lamplighter’s figure with Starlight’s yet. Likely waiting to see if the latter stays on as a permanent fixture in the alauded group. Some part of Hughie hoped that Annie did and another part didn’t. He knew that it had always been her dream to be apart of The Twelve, but he also knew how absolutely fucked up most of these supes could be. He shook his head.

In the center of the entire ensemble was Homelander, of course, holding a giant American flag. The pretentiousness of it all made Hughie roll his eyes as he continued to survey the art work. There was the aforementioned Translucent, who must’ve been a dream for the artist to cast as he was invisible all save his clothes. A-Train, an absolute knotheaded alpha who had on more than one occasion insulted Robin and Hughie’s relationship back when they were still together. He had brought her to some company dinners and socials where the arrogant speedster thought it was appropriate to make comments about the “ridiculousness” of a beta-omega relationship. That had soured Hughie’s opinion on his childhood hero pretty quick.

In the back was Lamplighter. Hughie never really met the guy as he had retired right as Hughie began working at Vought as Stillwell’s PA. Then there was Black Noir whom Hughie had also never conversed with and knew virtually nothing about. The Deep, another knothead who had tried to blackmail Hughie once for sexual favors. Luckily for him Stillwell had warned him well ahead before that happened. The woman was frightening, but she did look after her immediate work staff. Next was Queen Maeve, who Hughie rather liked. The woman was no-nonsense but generally sweet to Hughie.

After that was M.M. A large man with the power to turn himself into steel. Hughie had a feeling the supe use to be a real asshole alpha, but since meeting his omega wife had settled down quite a bit. Hughie had never met M.M.’s wife of course, but being the big boss lady’s secretary had its informational “perks”. Then there was The Frenchman who was, hilariously enough, an actual guy from France. Frenchman commanded the power of ice and could summon ice to do his bidding. He and Hughie got along just fine on the rare occasions they spoke.

After that was Kimiko. Her powers were similar to that of Black Noir. Super strength, ninja-like reflexes. Her nails (claws) were sharp enough to disembowel a person easily. No one really knew, but Hughie suspected that Kimiko and Frenchman were in a relationship together. Hughie tended to steer clear of the japanese woman as she was very volatile and quick to anger but around Frenchman she was much calmer. And vice versa, Frenchman spoke to Kimiko with a softness he did not reserve for anyone else.

Hughie’s eyes wandered to the last two supes depicted. The power couple of the Twelve.

The Butchers.

They were called Butcher and Lady Butcher respectively. Contrary to their titles, neither of them wielded giant butcher knives. Instead they had a fairly standard set of powers. Super strength, enhanced healing, enhanced senses, boosted speeds- But that wasn’t the strongest suit of the two. The alpha-alpha pair shared a bond deeper than even most alpha-omega matings. It was to the degree that the two fought like a literal single unit commanded by one mind. They psychic link between the two was insanely strong and close. Individually the two could be stopped, but together they could probably even take on Homelander with significant results. And the power couple were rarely ever seen apart.

Hughie had spoken to the Butchers a few times over his employment at Vought. Butcher had intimidated him more than any alpha he had ever met in his life. Lady Butcher wasn’t far off either. Though the two tended to be… Rather charming when they spoke to him. Using pet names and reassurances and whatnot. Hughie really wasn’t sure what to make of the two. 

Hughie shook his head and decided that it was high time he get back to his job. He continued his way back down the hallway and, at last, reached Stillwell’s office with barely any time to spare. He knocked on the door.

“Who is it?”

“It’s Hughie, ma’am.”

“Come in.”

He twisted the door handle and opened the door. Hughie was momentarily startled to see that Homelander was in the room. He had apparently interrupted a conversation between the two.

“Sorry,” he quickly apologized ducking his head. He walked carefully to Stillwell’s desk, careful not to get too close to Homelander, and gently handed the folders and documents over to her. “I have those papers you wanted from the costume department. Sorry I’m late.”

“You’re fine, Hughie. Thank you,” Stillwell said taking the papers from him, not even bothering to look up and meet his eyes.

He moved to take his leave.

“Ah,” Stillwell said. “Not yet, Hughie. I have another request for you. Take a seat, I’ll be done with Homelander in just a minute.”

Another request? That was strange. Nothing on Hughie’s normally very thorough schedule mentioned another task. And Stillwell was usually very good about having everything planned well in advanced. The powerful beta woman didn’t like to be sloppy or have things out of her control after all. There was a reason a non-alpha, especially a female non-alpha, like her was able to get this far in her career. As terrifying as she was, Stillwell was nothing if not a thorough and cutthroat business woman.

Hughie gingerly took a seat on the couches. Homelander looked back briefly at him to shoot him a rather condescending smile before returning to his conversation with Stillwell. Hughie decided to go on his phone while he waited. After fiddling around a bit he decided to text Annie.

_ H: Stillwell has a task for me and I don’t know what it is. I’m so nervous! _

_ _ A moment later his phone buzzed in his hands with her reply.

_ A: Uh oh. _

_ _ _ A: Keep me updated! I’ll throw a riot if they fire you. _

_ _ _ H: Hopefully not. XO _

_ _ _ H: You’re the best Annie. _

_ _ _ A: Pft. Of course I am. Don’t worry about a thing. ;) _

_ _ _ A: Starlight’s got you. _

_ _ Hughie chuckled to himself at the response. He’d never really been the type of omega to see himself with an alpha. Hell, he had been planning on marrying Robin before she broke it off. But maybe with Annie… He could see himself in a relationship with the gentle supe. Could see himself bearing pups for her-

“What’s so funny there, Hughie?”

He glanced up startled to see that Homelander was smiling down at him. It wasn’t exactly a friendly smile.

“Just uh-” He began awkwardly. “Just texting a f-friend…”

“A friend?” Homelander asked in faux surprise. “An omega friend?”

That question seemed out of line to Hughie, but he squashed down his indignant anger and answered. “No. An alpha friend. Not that it’s any of your business,” he snapped then winced. That came out a lot sharper than he had intended.

Homelander held up his hand in defence, “Hey now. I’m sorry if I offended. I’m just saying, that if I was your alpha I wouldn’t let you talk to other alphas so casually.”

What the  _ fuck  _ was this guy going on about??

Hughie furrowed his brow, “Well then… It’s a good thing you aren’t my alpha.”

The large blonde alpha chuckled at that. “My my. Such a sassy little omega. It really is too bad…” And then he was unabashedly running his eyes up and down Hughie’s figure. Hughie had a sudden dreading realization that one of Homelander’s powers was x-ray vision. And even if the supe wasn’t using that power this was just…. Wrong.

“What’s too bad?” He demanded, now really pissed.

“Nothing, nothing,” Homelander said removing his prying eyes and heading towards the door. He paused at the door and smirked, “Just… Goodluck, Hughie.” He laughed, and then left the room. 

Hughie’s mouth fell open wide in shock.

The- That audacity of it all! He looked over at Stillwell with outrage. She just shook her head.

“Let it go,” she said. “We’ve got more important things to discuss.”

Hughie bit his bottom lip, still furious. But there was really nothing he could do about it. This was the life of an omega afterall. To be treated like pretty little objects by every goddamn fucking alpha. He hasn’t felt this humiliated in a long time.

“Mr. Campbell, come take a seat at my desk and stop pouting.”

Hughie wanted to snap at her but reluctantly stood up and made his way over to her desk, plopping his ass down on the chair. “What can I do for you Ms. Stillwell?”

“I need you to clear the rest of your schedule for the month,” Stillwell said.

There was a beat of silence. Hughie blinked.

And then.

“WHAT?”

Stillwell rubbed her temples in stress, sighing. “This wasn’t my idea but there’s no way around it. I’m not firing you if that’s what you’re worried about, but something has come up that can’t be put aside.”

“What thing?”

She looked up at him sternly, stormy grey eyes searching his. “Hughie. You have been an excellent assistant. Better than most of my previous incompetent hires. I’ll admit, I wasn’t sure when I first heard that they were assigning me an omega, but you have proven time and time again to be perfectly capable of handling yourself and my demanding workstyle.”

Hughie rose an eyebrow, “Um… Thanks? But… What is this about.”

“I just wanted to tell you all that so you would know that, had this been my choice, you would still be working as my secretary,” Stillwell said.

Hughie’s mouth feel open once more in shock, “So… You are firing me? Or-”

“I’m not firing you,” she snapped. “But your…  _ job description  _ has been updated per some upper level requests that are even above me.”

Upper level requests? And why did she say job description so weirdly? Hughie felt like he was getting more and more questions without having any of his previous ones answered.

“Ok- Stop,” he finally said in frustration. “ _ What _ new job description? What exactly am I going to be doing.”

Stillwell sighed. Hughie watched as he entire body sagged with stress. Normally she looked so put together, so confident, that it was actually jarring to see her like this. What could possibly be so bad that her reaction was like this? Is she honestly that upset at losing an assistant, no matter how competent?

“You’ve been…” Stillwell began. “Hughie. You’ve received a mating request.”

He blinked. And then laughed.

“What?” Hughie laughed again at the absurdity of what she just said. “No- There must be a mistake of some sort. I’m not on any mating register. I’m not signed up to receive offers. I’m not…” He thought back to his preferences. He thought to Robin and Annie. “I’m not looking for an alpha.”

“Alphas,” Stillwell corrected. “And I am perfectly aware that you aren’t on any registry. However this comes from our internal workings and I’m sorry to say that I don’t really have a say in this. You’re going to have to bring this up to the alphas who have requested you. But for now you’ve been taken off your current duties.”

Hughie shook his head, “This is absurd. There’s no legal basis for any alpha to put a claim over me like this, to the extent that my  _ fucking  _ job is being affected! And what do you mean  _ alphas? _ Like as in more than one? Who the fuck are these people?”

A thick silence stretched across the room again. And when Stillwell spoke again, looking grim, Hughie almost couldn’t hear what she said over the blood rushing in his ears.

“You’ve been personally requested… By the Butchers to be their omega.”


	2. Chapter 2

Butchers. The  _ fucking Butchers! _

Hughie had wanted to laugh back in that office if he wasn’t smart enough to know that Stillwell was not the joking type. She had been dead serious and that scared him.

What did the  _ Butchers  _ want with _ him? _

Shaking his head he whipped out his phone and immediately texted Annie. He needed some guidance or just… Somebody to vent to about this. He was supposed to be meeting with the Butchers sometime within the hour, depending on how a mission went, but Hughie was honestly debating just leaving the building all togther. He might be an omega but like hell Vought can just treat him like this! The audacity of it all was infuriating.

_ H: Annie. Are you busy? It’s important. _

His phone buzzed with her reply a minute later.

_ A: A little… Homelander wants to hold a meeting regarding the recent mission. I’m kinda stuck in the meeting room rn. _

_ A: Why? What happened. _

_ A: Wait. Oh my goodness. Stillwell didn’t actually fire you did she?? _

Hughie chuckled to himself at her concern.

_ H: No no. Well… Not technically. _

_ H: Fucking hell. I don’t even know how to explain what happened. _

_ H: I’m just so angry!! >:( _

_ A: Hughie. What happened? _

He gave pause and tried to think about how to word this. Mere texting didn’t seem adequate enough to express his utter indignation and humiliation at the entire situation. His fingers flew across his phone keyboard but eventually he just deleted it with a sigh.

_ H: I should just tell you in person. Do you know when you might be free? _

He watched a minute. And then two. Finally the little text bubble showing that Annie was texting back showed up. His phone buzzed a moment later.

_ A: Hughie. It’s not nice to distract Starlight while she’s in a meeting. There’s no texting in class. _

Hughie blinked then scowled. Somehow he just knew that was Homelander. Did that arrogant ass seriously take Annie’s phone just to send him that condescending text? Fucking hell. He and America’s favorite hero spoke on the rare occasion and only saw each other often because it was Hughie’s job to hover around Stillwell all day (former job, he thought bitterly) and the so called “hero” was high key obsessed with his boss. But every single time the asshole never failed to act like a complete knothead towards him. It was always aggrivating comments about his secondary sex or whatnot. Less apparent than the blatant sexism of A-Train, but no less infuriating.

He marched into the staff room reserved for the non-supe employees that worked on this floor. Mostly it was just assistants without offices that used the room, Hughie included in amongst those. Busy as they always were, the staff room was usually empty just like it was now as Hughie stomped into it. He marched over to the coffee machine and started it up, angrily pressing the buttons as he made himself a cup of espresso.

“You’re gonna break it if you keep that up,” a voice said.

Hughie whirled around in panic and saw no one in the room. He scowled again.

“Are you seriously stalking around the building naked again? It’s really creepy,” he told the invisible Translucent. “And shouldn’t you be at a Twelve meeting right now?”

The air in the corner of the room shimmered and Translucent appeared seemingly out of thin air. Hughie hastily averted his gaze from the suspected nakedness. The supe cackled at his reaction.

“Are you serious?” He snapped. “I’m really not in the mood for your weird fetishes today- Not that I’m  _ ever _ in the mood. But I’m having a bad day and I’m busy so go away.”

“Testy,” Translucent quipped. “I was just coming in to check up on the lucky omega. Besides, it’s not like anyone at the meeting are going to miss me anyway. They don’t even know that I’ve left the room.”

“Lucky omega?” Hughie asked incredulously.

“You sound so offended, omega. Shouldn’t you be jumping for joy? Being claimed by not just one, but two of the most powerful alphas in the world.”

Hughie growled in warning when he heard Translucent take steps towards him. Even if the supe was on the other side of the room, he wasn’t going to risk letting the creep anywhere near him. “I’m not being claimed by  _ any  _ alpha! And what is this? Does everyone know this was happening besides me?” He risked a peak behind him, willing to catch sight of an unsolicited dick rather than not knowing what the alpha was doing.

Translucent shrugged. “That was actually the whole meeting with Homelander, after he went over some other shit. The guy seemed pretty adamant about announcing it to the entire team.”

_ Shit,  _ Hughie thought. That meant Annie would know before he could explain it himself. He could only imagine how Homelander was spinning the story. He’ll have to rush to explain his side as soon as possible.

Shaking his head, he turned back to the coffee maker as it beeped to alert him that it was ready. He took a mug and filled it to the brim, letting the comforting smell of espresso calm his fraying nerves.

“Not going to put milk and sugar in that?” Translucent’s voice suddenly sounded right next to his ear.

Hughie let out a rather embarrassing yelp and jumped backwards. His hand flashed out on instinct and struck the alpha across the chest, only to recoil back in pain when it was like punching a concrete wall. “Fuck!” He clutched his hand and glared at the supe. “What the hell!”

Translucent rolled his eyes like Hughie was being dramatic. “Relax, omega. I was just wondering if you were going to get milk and sugar for your coffee.”

“First of all,” Hughie heaved out furiously. “Stop calling me ‘omega’, it’s patronizing as fuck. And second, what the  _ fuck  _ does it matter if I put milk and sugar in my coffee?”

Translucent shrugged, “Figured it was an omegan thing. Don’t all of you like your sweet treats or something.”

Hughie shook his head in disbelief, “What the fuck does that  _ even mean?  _ Omegas- No. What? And I happen to like my coffee black. Some people like it sweet. It’s not an omega thing!”

“Could’ve fooled me.”

Hughie wasn’t even sure where this conversation (if it could even be called that) was going. Normally he kept his head down pretty well at work. Most of the supes paid little attention to him unless he had a request from Stillwell to deliver for them. Annie was the only one of the Twelve that he spoke to on a casual basis, even going as far as meeting outside of work to just hang out (Starlight played a mean bowling game). But today was just absurd. Not only was he getting all this (unwanted!!) attention from all these supes, but it was all beyond condescending. Hughie worked hard to get this PA job dammit! He didn’t come here to be reduced down to his basic biology by a bunch of sexist alphas.

“I’m going to need you to back off,” he told the supe sternly. He began to back away, espresso forgotten, while never taking his eye off the alpha.

“There’s no need for that, little omega,” Translucent said, demeanor shifting. Was it just him or was the supe now leering at Hughie?

“What did I say about calling me omeg-”

Hughie flinched and clammed up tight when Translucent suddenly slammed a palm loudly down on the counter, shattering the black marble beneath his hand. The scent of a domineering alpha suddenly filled the room making the omega within Hughie scream at him to cower and bare his neck. To smile and appease the angry threat.

“Shut up for a moment,  _ O-me-ga, _ ” Translucent said dangerously. He leaned forward into Hughie’s space, ignoring the way the smaller man flinched back in terror. He scented the air near Hughie’s throat and made an appreciative hum. “Now there’s a good boy. Be a good omega and stay still for me.”

Hughie’s mind was reeling. Was this really happening? He told his body to move but it felt like he was paralized which was even more terrifying because the bastard hadn’t even bothered using his Alpha Voice with him yet. The sharp bitter scent of a terrorized omega stung at his nose. His own scent. He had to  _ move- _

A hand clamped down on his bicep, chasing any thought of escape from his mind as it was filled with the sensation of helplessness instead. Hughie didn’t normally have gender dysphoria, but it was events like these that made him hate being an omega. He hated it hated it hated it hatedithatedithatedit-!

“Relax, omega,” Translucent said chuckling, still leaning far too close to Hughie. He was  _ physically touching him! _ “I’m not going to hurt you. You know… You’re the only omega in the office. All of us in the Twelve have noticed you at one point or another. Stillwell’s pretty little omega PA. Don’t even pretend like you haven’t noticed the stares.”

He hadn’t. Hughie honestly hadn’t. On the streets, yes. But in the office, with the protection of Stillwell and the constant companionship of Starlight… He had honestly no idea what Translucent was talking about. Was it true? Had he been blind by his comfortable position not to have noticed the dangers around him. He’d been working here for months now and this was the first time things had escalated to this level.

“We’ve all been dying to get a taste of you,” Translucent continued, licking his lips. “But we refrained. But now… Now Mr. and Mrs. Butcher have put out a claim on you. So what do you say about having, hm… Some fun before you get yourself marked and knocked up, hm? I promise to be gentle, pretty omega.”

Hughie opened his mouth to protest. Shout, scream profanities, maybe spit on the arrogant alpha, but all that came out instead was a pathetic whimper. Shame flooded through him. More bitter distressed omega pheromones filled the room, mingling with the scent of an aggressive and sexually charged alpha. It was not a good combination.

“N-no…” He finally managed to get out past the urge to cower and submit.

He hated this. He hated alphas. This is why he never wanted one.

He also hated being an omega.

“I think you’ll change your mind once I’ve done a little convincing,” Translucent purred. And then he started to lean closer and there was nothing Hughie could do about it as the alpha advanced on him. Only his eyes could widen in horror as the rest of his body stayed petrified.

And then the door burst open.

“Back the fuck off, ya invisible fucking cunt,” a gruff voice rang through the room. “Before I fucking gut you and leave you to bleed out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A rather short chapter, but I felt like it ended in a good place. Look forward to Butcher and Becca's point of view in the next update. :)


	3. Chapter 3

Billy was having an  _ excellent  _ fucking day.

It wasn’t often that Vought let them go absolutely off on some targets, but since the increase in domestic terrorism and the fearmongering of the media recently the Twelve had been allowed more leniency when it came to violence. Their most recent mission was just that, a dispatch to Connecticut where a shooting was on going. Even the fact that his partner for the mission was The Deep, the pathetic cunt, couldn't ruin Billy’s good mood.

Not to mention the fact that his wife was currently back at HQ making the last preparations for their upcoming courtship. Becca had been rather peeved when they told her that she wasn’t going to be on the mission but perked up considerably once informed that they had some last minute details to bang out before they could court their chosen omega officially. Billy knew she would have preferred to rip through some terrorists instead, but the alternative wasn’t a terrible second choice.

Hughie Campbell. Their omega. Well… Not their omega just yet. But soon, they hoped. Vought had such an extreme vetting process when it came to who their assets were allowed to mate, much less court. What with Compound V being such a game changer. There were so many hoops they had to leap through just to get approval. DNA had to be collected and tested to ensure that any offspring would be of optimal breeding. It was all bureaucratic nonsense. Billy knew his omega when he saw them.

He and Becca’s relationship had been difficult in the beginning for much the same reason. Contrary to what pop media believed, the two of them didn’t grow up together. Instead, he’d met his beautiful alpha wife on the job, back when they were still C-tier heroes in their early twenties. But something had clicked when they fought together for the first time and both of them instantaneously knew. True Mates was mostly just a romanticized fictional concept but it was the closest thing Billy could compare his mateship with Becca.

Vought had not been happy when it learned of their courtship though and tried to break it apart. However, he and Becca showed them how strong they were together. They truly shared a psychic link and were practically unstoppable as a duo. Eventually, Vought came to see it their way and allowed the two to officially mate. And then he and Becca continued to rise in fame (and some notoriety) until they were inevitably invited to join The Twelve.

Now, however, years later the two were growing restless. Beating down criminals and saving civilians could only be entertaining for so long (and the latter was much less entertaining than the former). As they grew older, there had been a sudden shift in their biology. Neither of them had ever entertained the idea of rearing pups before, especially seeing as it wasn’t biologically feasible for them anyway. It just never appealed.

And then they had met one Mr. Campbell.

Billy remembered the day well.

Homelander had been pouting all day when Madelyn’s new personal assistant was supposed to start. Considering the bastard had scared off practically all of her other assistants, none of them were expecting this one to last long. Hell, the psychopathic fuck had even killed one of Stillwell’s PAs. It was honestly ridiculous to see the most powerful supe on the planet acting so petty and jealous over a handful of pathetic non-supes. Though on some level Billy understood. He’d be gleefully and unapologetically murderous too if anyone took up Becca’s attention.

Then the new PA turned out to be an omega and Homelander completely changed his tune. None of the Twelve were ever around omegas on a regular basis aside from Mother’s Milk and his Vought approved omega wife. It was a stunning turn of events when it was revealed that the new PA was going to be an omega.

Billy suspected that was entirely intentional on Stillwell’s part though. It was not a secret amongst The Twelve of Homelander’s… Oedipus inclinations. And while the supe seemed to hone in on their boss Madelyn, there was no doubt than an omega in their midst would do much to curb his bloodlust. Plus, Stillwell was probably tired of having to hire and retrain assistants on a regular basis. Having one that would appeal to Homelander’s tendencies and keep him from killing her PA was something Billy could absolutely see the calculating woman do. Rather cold blooded, considering the potential consequences to the poor omega should the plan backfire, but engenius nonetheless.

Billy hadn’t cared much about it. He had a mate. Who needed a shitty omega when he had his powerful and sexy minx of a wife? Becca more than enough to keep Billy a happy man for the rest of his life.

But then Becca had come rushing into their shared apartment, eyes wild and the musty scent of her arousal filling the room. She’d leaped onto him in a fury and pressed him down into the couch, pheromones demanding that he submit to her alpha. Billy had done so happily, allowing his gorgeous wife to savagely kiss him and dominate him.

After that heated makeout session she had finally calmed down enough to tell him what had happened.

When Billy had first heard that it was this new omega of Stillwell’s that had gotten Becca into such a tizzy, he had wanted to track down the little bastard and disembowel the omega himself. He had never had cause for jealousy and experiencing it for the first time had been an inferno of fury and possessiveness. It was only Becca's coos and placating that had calmed him down enough to finish listening to her.

She had told him that she took one whiff and look at the new omega and had immediately been turned on. Becca explained that she had never felt so immediately possessive of another person in her life. Not like she was with Billy, who was perfectly capable of defending himself, but rather in the way alphas are often described to be over their omegas.

In the end, Becca made him promise to meet the omega for just a minute, confident in herself that he would feel the same as her. Billy had been more than skeptical but agreed. However, he had every intention of slaughtering the omega should he not feel anything. When they marched towards Stillwell’s office, he had been fully prepared to have blood on his hands by the end of the hour. Stillwell’s annoyance be damned.

That was obviously not what happened.

Billy didn’t even get within ten feet of the omega.

That annoying bitch Ashley was giving the omega a tour apparently and they were in The Twelve’s meeting room when Becca and Billy had approached them. At first sight of Hughie, there had been a movement in Billy’s chest, something he thought had been strange at the time but nothing really to dwell on. He did, however, notice when Becca’s grip tightened almost painfully around his hand. He could admit that the omega was appealing to look at, but most of them were. Hughie was very tall, taller than most omegas and even a good number of alphas, and taller than Billy himself. But the omega was certainly nothing to write home about.

And then they had come close enough to scent the omega.

Billy had physically froze in his tracks, barely noticing the cheshire grin that spread across Becca’s face as she watched her husband. And it wasn’t that Billy couldn’t move. He hadn’t been paralized or anything.

It was that if he dared to move, it would be to pin the omega down and have his savage way with the man.

A moment later the spell broke, but it only made Billy painfully aware of his furious arousal. Before he could release more pheromones, Becca had dragged him back to their apartment. Now the two were by no means an un-sexually active couple. But the number of times they fucked that day would go down in Billy’s memory forever. It was like they had both been injected with a powerful dose of Compound V. Their stamina and sex drived seemed endless. And the entire time neither of them could stop imagining having that sweet omega mewling and whining between them as they rutted their knots up into his pliant body, filling him with their seed.

By the next day, Billy had felt more exhausted than he had in years as the couple laid in bed completely spent. As the dawn sun filtered through the window, the supes had both looked at one another in perfect understanding and agreement.

This was  _ their  _ omega. It had been like the first time they had met and felt their bond instantly form. They had both believed for years that this bond was only shared between the two of them. That this connection they had, as an extension of their powers, was unique to them alone. They believed this until the moment they had finally scented their omega’s sweet smell.

They’d stared at each other completely fucked out and agreed.

Whatever it took, they would get their omega.

And today was finally the day. They would be able to make their intentions to their omega clear.

Billy tossed down the limp corpse of the shooter and brushed some debris from his shirt. They had kept structural damage to a minimum (one reason why Becca wasn’t invited, his wife was a whirlwind of destructive power, one of the many reasons he adored her), which was good because otherwise the aquarium tanks surrounding them would put them in a shit load of trouble. And it was thanks to this god awful location the idiot terrorists chose for his assigned partner. He could spot The Deep now, speaking animatedly with a school of fish at the far end of the hall. Billy shook his head. He really hated the cunt.

“Alright,” he called to the other supe. “We’re done so let’s get the fuck out of here.”

The Deep ignored him, pretending that he hadn’t heard Billy, and continued to speak with the fish. An octopus had joined the congregation.

“Fish fucker,” Billy muttered beneath his breath and began marching down the hall for the other hero. He was going to show that pathetic fuck why Butcher wasn’t a supe to be ignored when he felt his phone ring in his pocket. He paused and pulled it out. It was Becca.

“Babe?” He answered.

_ “Billy, you should get back to base soon.”  _ Her voice was tight with concern and fury.

“What is it?”

_ “Homelander,”  _ Becca growled in her alpha’s voice.  _ “Decided to hold a meeting to announce our intentions to court Hughie. They’re in there right now talking. I swear, I’m going to kill him.” _

Not if Billy didn’t get to the arsehole first. What was that fucker thinking outing their intentions like that? There was no way this wasn’t going to end with some sort of backlash. Their courtship was supposed to be on the downlow. How did Homelander, that wanker, even find out about it?

Billy stopped for a moment at that thought, then growled. Stillwell. Of course the cunt told her number one poster boy.

“I’m coming back immediately,” he snarled into the phone. “Keep an eye on Hughie.”

He could nearly hear his wife’s eyes rolling,  _ “Doesn’t even need to be said, sweetheart.” _

The phone clicked off and Billy resumed his march. He twacked The Deep across the back of his head when he passed by the idiot, but couldn’t be bothered to do more. Kevin flinched forward and shot him a glare, but cowed back at the sight of Butcher’s murderous expression.

“We leaving?” He called to Billy who continued to walk without answering and turned back to the tank. “I’ll talk to you guys later- No. I can’t stay. Wow, ok that was uncalled for. Bye guys.”

~*~

Becca was waiting for him on the roof of the Vought building when their helicopter landed. Her arms were crossed and she looked irate. Billy leaped out of the copter before it even landed and went to her side, hooking an arm around her waist and giving her a kiss in greeting.

“They still in the meeting?” He asked as they started walking.

Becca shook her head, the wind blowing her hair wild, and let out an angry sigh, “I think so. Hughie was in the staff room last I checked. Madelyn dropped the news on him. He wasn’t very happy.”

Billy snickered, “I didn’t think he would be. Our omega isn’t the type to roll over belly up at the first hint of trouble.” Though, the thought of it was certainly hot. Part of Hughie’s allure was that he wasn’t just going to give them his submission. They were going to have to earn it from the tall spunky omega.

“I’m concerned,” Becca said, biting her lip. “I haven’t seen Translucent in a while.”

“Who has?” Billy scoffed.

“I’m serious, Billy,” she said. “The bastard was at the meeting but went invisible sometime into it. He hasn’t made a single obnoxious quip in a whi-”

They both simultaneously paused.

An identical shock went through them, bouncing back and forth along their mating bond. Fear and panic, not their own, shot through them. Billy felt Becca’s grip on him became ironclad and borderline painful. Neither of them needed to speak to know.

Hughie was in danger.

Billy snarled and started sprinting down the halls, Becca following easily though far more gracefully than his pounding footsteps. Several moments later the staff room was in the distance. Here, it was easy to smell the bitter scent of a distressed omega.

He was at the door in a flash, bursting in down in mindless fury. In the room he saw them. Translucent in the nude crowding Hughie into the counter, Hughie who looked terrified, Hughie who was releasing distressed pheromones. Billy saw red.

“ Back the fuck off, ya invisible fucking cunt,” he snarled in his deepest alpha voice. “Before I fucking gut you and leave you to bleed out.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the typos! Just wanted to get this out. Will probably (absolutely) be revising this at work tomorrow and updating it every half an hour with fixes lmao. But it's late now so I sleep. Hope you enjoy! :)

Hughie could’ve sobbed in relief.

At the arrival of Butcher, Translucent had immediately stepped away from him, turning his aggressive pheromones away from Hughie and onto the nearest alpha threat. Both supes took aggressive stances as they sized one another up.

“Relax, Butcher,” Translucent said raising two hands up in the universal symbol of surrender. His tense body language told a completely different story though. “I wasn’t going to hurt him. Just… Having a look at the lucky omega. Wanted to see what was so special.”

“That’s not what it looked like to me,” Butcher said with a terrifying grin. “Plus, I don’t think it’s any of your bloody business.”

Translucent clicked his tongue, “Testy. Listen, Butcher. You don’t wanna fight. And over an omega of all things? Come now.” Now that Hughie was free from the supe’s immediate attention, his anger came back with a vengeance and he burned at what he heard. “Besides. We both know I'm stronger than you.”

“Not when I’m here,” a new voice said.

Lady Butcher stepped into the room, clad in her signature flowing black leather cloak, identical to the one her husband wore. The pair made an impressive sight standing there side by side, two dark imposing figures, glaring down the third alpha. If possible, her expression was even more wild than that of her husband’s. Both looked ready to rip off some heads.

There was some satisfaction in seeing Translucent falter a bit at Lady Butcher’s arrival. It wasn’t obvious, but with Hughie’s close proximity to the supe he could see the minute shift in his body language. Plus Hughie of all people, being an employee of Vought and a long time fan of the Twelve (ex-fan if he was being honest), knew fully the power levels of each member. Alone, Translucent could probably beat them one on one, especially since his carbon skin gave him more durability. However, facing down the Butchers together would be suicide. Only Homelander, and perhaps even Queen Maeve, could beat the duo. Translucent was right to be weary.

The entire room was incredibly tense. It seemed that at any moment someone was going to attack. These were tight quarters too. The building’s schematics weren’t designed to handle the power of several alpha-high supes fighting, especially not outside of specially designed training rooms. So as much as Hughie would love to see the gigantic knothead get his nude ass handed to him, the omega knew he was going to have to put a stop to this.

“I’m f-fine,” he managed to stutter out. The three alpha’s immediately turned their attention to him, and he had to struggle to keep his omega instincts from making him close in on himself. “It’s not a big deal- I mean… Let’s just forget about this, okay? There’s no need for a fight.”

God, he was so fucking sick and tired of alphas.

Translucent chuckled, “You see? Hughie here says it’s all good!”

Butcher’s glare darkened but it was Lady Butcher that looked over at Hughie sternly.

“Are you sure?” She asked, a hint of her Alpha voice creeping in. Hughie knew it likely wasn’t on purpose seeing how ramped up everyone was, especially on his distressed pheromones, but it still annoyed him. “Because it certainly doesn’t smell like everything is fine.”

“It’s  _ fine _ ,” Hughie emphasized again. “I just… It’s been a long day and I just want to go back to my apartment and forget this whole thing.” Having three alphas fight about him wasn’t going to help him at all. In fact, he wasn’t just pissed at Translucent, he was still pissed at the Butchers too. Out of all people he absolutely did not need their help.

“You heard the lad,” Butcher growled at Translucent. “Get the fuck out of here.”

Translucent sneered but started for the door. The Butchers both reluctantly moved out of the way for him, but at least they seemed to be respecting Hughie wishes.

“Who needs a slut omega anyway. Two alphas, ha-”

Hughie didn’t know what possessed, but hearing that triggered a immediately fury in him and his fist was out in a flash before he realized and striking the back of Translucent’s head. The pain was immediate and he reared back, clutching his wrist. “FUCK!” He shouted but still felt the satisfaction of having done it. Stupid fucking supes and their stupid practical invulnerability.

Translucent didn’t even flinch. He just glanced back at Hughie and barked out a laugh, having probably not even felt at the blow, “What did you think was going to happen stup-”

His words were cut off again when Lady Butcher landed a right hook into his cheek. This time the man did react, head snapping to the side with a satisfying thud. When he righted himself again there was a glorious red spot across his face and Translucent’s lip had split beneath the punched.

“You  _ bitch _ -!” He rose his own fist to retaliate but Butcher caught it and shoved him out of the door. The supe went sprawling on to the carpet.

“Fuck off,” Butcher growled. “And don’t you dare touch my wife or our omega.”

And then he slammed the door shut on the bewildered Translucent.

“What a piece of work,” Lady Butcher spat angrily.

“You okay, kid?” Butcher asked Hughie then burst out laughing. “I knew we made the right fucking choice with you. You actually punched the cunt! A normal omega punching one of the twelve! Fucking brilliant.”

“Billy,” Lady Butcher said rolling her eyes, clearly affectionately exasperated at her husband’s tact. Butcher, or Billy apparently, wiggled his eyebrows at her.

Hughie, however, wasn’t feeling so giddy.

“No, I’m not ok,” he snapped, voice cutting through the pleasant demeanor of the two alphas as their attention snapped towards him. “In fact, I am very very far from being anywhere near okay right now. None of this should’ve happened in the first place. This is also your fault as well!” Hughie leveled the two with his meanest glare, remnants of his distressed hormones still coursing through him.

“Who do the two of you think you are?” He forged forward. “Claiming me and undermining my job like this?”

“Undermining-” Butcher began but Hughie quickly shut him down.

“Shut up! I’m not finished! I don’t think I’ve even had 3 conversations between the two of you,” Hughie’s voice rose in a shout. “So what the fuck is the bullshit about courting me? I didn’t agree to any such thing! Just because I’m one of the few omegas working for Vought doesn’t give anyone the right to walk all over me like this! Plus, I had to find all this out from my fucking boss who apparently isn’t even my boss anymore! So fuck the both of you and fuck your stupid archaic courting offer! You can go shove it up your ass!”

And then Hughie stormed out of the room.

Or at least, he attempted to, but was quickly blocked by Butcher who placed an arm out to hold the door.

“Whoa there, kid-”

“I’m not a fucking kid. Don’t fucking patronize me!”

Butcher grimaced and corrected himself, “Alright. My bad. Hughie then. You’re going to have to slow down because that was a whole mess of words. I don’t think I caught even half of that.”

If looks could kill, there would be one less supe in the world right then.

“Let’s just back up for a moment,” Butcher said. “What is this about undermining your job?”

Lady Butcher grimaced.

“About that-” She began and Hughie turned his glare fully onto her.

She let out a frustrated sigh, “Hughie… Billy and I fully intended on courting you… Casually. Letting you know of our intentions ahead of time and taking it slowly. However, Vought had other plans.”

Hughie rose one brow high with disbelief and scoffed, “Now you’re trying to pawn off responsibility to Vought?”

“We really aren't,” she said sternly. “When Vought caught wind of our intentions towards you, we quickly came to a block. As part of the Twelve, we cannot just mate any omega off the street and certainly not ‘casually’ as we had in mind. I swear to you, Hughie. Billy and I are fully committed to doing right by you. But working for Vought can be… Complicated, to say the least.”

Butcher snorted and she slapped his chest with the back of her hand, shooting him a warning glare.

Hughie just shook his head, “ _ Complicated  _ should not involve Stillwell giving me an indefinite leave of absence! I don’t even know how this affects my payroll. Have either of you any idea of goddamn hard it is for someone like me at my age to live alone and have a job and be self-reliant! What the fuck am I supposed to do!”

“We can make sure you have everything-”

“That is the  _ last  _ thing I want,” he snapped. “If I wanted an alpha to take care of me and pay all the bills I would’ve dropped myself onto a knot years ago. I don’t want or need your help. What I  _ do need  _ is for the two of you to fix this mess you got me into and get me my job back. Because right now, it really just feels like I’m being extorted into a courtship I didn’t even know about nor ask for.”

The two alphas shared a look. Hughie recognized it as their signature silent communication. For some reason, he felt a buzz go through him as they locked eyes, but he was too angry to give it any further thought.

They turned back to him, but it was Butcher who spoke this time. “Alright, Hughie. We didn’t mean to step on any toes and we certainly didn’t want you to feel like we were forcing you into a courtship with us but-”

“But?!”

“But,” Lady Butcher continued more forcefully. “We can’t actually do anything about Stillwell. Those higher up than even her have made it clear that while you are being courted, that is the only thing you should be focused on.”

“That’s ridiculous!” Hughie shouted. “Why does Vought even have such an investment in me anyway!”

“Hughie, think for a moment,” Butcher said gruffly. “Use that brain of yours. We just said that them higher ups don’t like to fuck around and let their assets mate any random omega that strikes our fancy.”

_ Who said anything about mate _ , Hughie wanted to snap but bit his tongue. Instead he did think about it carefully. Then he let out the most exasperated sigh of his life.

“So what?” He snapped. “Vought… Vetted me out? Thoroughly background checked me? What? Some bullshit DNA compatibility test or another?”

Butcher grinned wildly but his eyes shone with pride, “Atta boy. The big wigs gotta make sure any pups their prized soldiers pop out will be just as useful as their parents.”

“Ok,” Hughie said begrudgingly. “So Vought approves of my genes or whatnot- Whatever. That still doesn’t answer why the two of you want me. You’re already pair bonded and married. What do the  _ great Butcher and Lady Butcher  _ want we me?”

“You can call us Becca and Billy seeing as we’ll be seeing more of each other from now on,” Lady Butcher said with a smile.

If he had not already been bombarded with more shocking news than he had in his entire life, Hughie might’ve been gobsmacked at the offer. Not only were those confidential names only to be used around personnel with clearance (it did not escape Hughie’s attention the amount of times Lady Butcher, or apparently Becca, already used her husband’s real name in his presence) but it meant something far more terrifying.

The Twelve, as ridiculous and assholish as they were, were still professionals. Hughie had never seen any of them (except many The Deep) not deliver on their work. That included things like keeping their secret identities well underwraps. If these two were already so comfortable using their real names around him then that meant that somewhere in the Vought database, next to the name ‘Hughie Cambell’, was a clearance stamp. It meant that he was already too deep into this to easily back out.

Hughie briefly wondered if Vought would even just let him walk out of this courtship. He couldn’t imagine how they would do it but he had a creeping suspicion that they would make sure it happened if they were already this invested in him. One didn’t work under Stillwell for nearly a year and not find out about Voughts darker and morally grey dealings. Hughie didn’t know for certain what the supe company was involved in, but he knew that it was shady as fuck. He wouldn’t put it past the company to do it’s best to ensure this courtship went through.

He felt like he had a migraine incoming.

“Hughie?” Becca asked.

He just rubbed his temple and shook his head, “I’m just… Ok fine. Look. Clearly, I’m not getting out of this that easily. I still don’t know why you picked  _ me _ but you did and now I have to play along until I can figure something out.”

“Play along?” Billy asked. “Common, Hughie. Courting us can’t be that bad-”

“Yes it can,” Hughie snapped. “I don’t know where you two got the idea that I would be even  _ remotely  _ interested in a courtship. But if you actually did your research properly, you would’ve known that I have  _ never  _ dated an alpha in my life. Let alone two. And you want to know why?” He paused for dramatic effect, “It’s because I don’t want to court alphas  _ ever.  _ I happen to like betas.” He thought to Robin and felt a pang of sadness for a moment.

“But,” he continued. “It’s clear to me now that there isn’t much I can do to get out of this courtship at the moment, thanks to the two of you. So you both owe me a favor.”

“Anything,” Becca immediately said while Billy appraised him carefully.

“I need a job,” Hughie started slowly. “I can’t go back to Stillwell yet and Vought wants me to spend time with the two of you while you ‘court’ me.” Like hell that was actually going to happen! “So, I have a solution that’ll benefit us all I think.”

“Get on with it, Hughie,” Butcher said. He glared at the shorter alpha.

“Let me be your direct PR manager,” Hughie said with a sharp grin, suddenly feeling vicious. If he was going to be stuck in this stupid situation he was going to make the most of it. What better way that to climb that corporate ladder and break that glass ceiling than to be the direct manager of two of the most popular members of The Twelve? “This way I’ll be seen with you both all the time and Vought will get off my back, I’ll still have a job, and you two can attempt your best to woo me with all the time we’ll be spending together.”

Becca shot him an incredulous look but her husband surprisingly threw his head back and barked out a laugh. A moment later, Becca too was shaking her head with amusement. Hughie sensed that he had impressed the two with his offer.

Oh, but they wouldn’t be laughing for long.

Afterall… Who could blame him if he made their schedules and lives hell and the two decided on their own that he just wasn’t worth the effort anymore? Certainly not Vought.

“You’ve got yourself a deal, princess,” Butcher said holding out a hand.

Hughie ignored the patronizing pet name and took the alpha’s hand, voice dripping thick with saccharine.

“Pleasure doing business.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> NO BETA WE DIE LIKE MEN

He had a meeting with the Butchers and Stillwell scheduled for the next morning at eight promptly where they would be banging out the last details of Hughie’s new position as the supe couple’s new manager. Of course, the proposition had to first be run by some higher ups (or more specifically, Mr. Edgar) but Hughie was confident that they would agree. Especially since it would ensure his cooperation with the courtship.

He could be devious when he wanted to be.

Stillwell had been exasperated but amused when he came to her about the deal but he could see in her eyes that she was impressed with him. She had then told Hughie to take the rest of the day off while she ran it past her boss.

Once Hughie had stepped out of the Vought building he felt all the energy in his body leave. His shoulders sagged and his fingers immediately found his cellphone and flipped through his contacts.

He paused when he got to who he was looking for.

There was only one person he needed to vent to right now.

~*~

“They  _ what?!” _

Hughie rubbed his temple as Robin stared at him in shock from across the table. They were seated at a Starbucks near the building she worked at. The moment he had texted her about needing to talk about something urgent, she had quickly replied that she would be free for an hour for lunch. Robin was always reliable like that.

God, sometimes Hughie really missed her.

“I know!” He exclaimed.

“Did you tell them that you aren’t interested in alphas?” Robin asked him dubiously.

Hughie could only grimace, “I tried. But this is Vought we’re talking about. This isn’t going to be something I can just simply turn down.”

“That’s not right,” she said, angrily stabbing her fork into a tomato. “Like ok, I knew you talked about some shady things Vought was a part of but are you sure they’d go that far? Why don’t you just quit?”

He frowned at her. “Robin, you know why I can’t quit my job. You of all people know how hard I worked to land it. There are no other omegas working on my floor!”

“I know, I know,” Robin said. She sighed. “I’m just… I’m worried about you. This is so fucking wrong. They can’t just  _ force  _ you to court an alpha.”

“Two alphas, if we’re being technical. And welll they can’t  _ physically  _ force me to do it, but I’m not stupid enough to believe that there won’t be any consequences if I turn it down. I’m meeting with Stillwell tomorrow and probably some big wig to discuss the new arrangements.”

Robin wrinkled her nose, “I despise that woman.”

Hughie shrugged, “She’s not that terrible.”

“You only think that because she’s a beta that doesn’t bother you and she signs your paychecks.”

He didn’t deny it. Oh, he was absolutely aware of what a cold hearted bitch Stillwell could be. She had him sit in with her on most of her meetings, bar those she had with very important people, and he was more than aware of how cut throat she could be. But she also paid Hughie more respect than most other people did. He suspected that it was because she was a single beta mother and knew what it was like to work in such an industry at a disadvantage. She was never easy on him, but she also never treated him unfairly.

Plus, the woman knew how to manipulate. Hell, she had the most alpha-est alpha wrapped around her finger and she didn’t even have the advantage of omegan pheromones to help her. That was one thing Hughie could never bring himself to do was use his “omegan wiles” to manipulate people. He was by no means ashamed of his secondary sex, but it was hard enough to shake off the negative assumptions people already made about him based on it. He didn’t need to add the sexist stereotype of sleeping to his way up the ladder on top of that.

“Anyway,” Hughie said, deciding to change the subject. “I think I’ve ranted enough to you. How have you been, Robin? How’s Alice?”

Robin flushed prettily, and Hughie felt a pang of jealousy which was ridiculous as he was the one to bring up the other omega.

“We’re doing good,” she replied. “Well- Alice has been cranky recently. The alpha on our floor won’t invest in pheromone cancellers and his scent keeps leaking into our apartment and it’s been driving her up the wall. I can’t smell a damn thing of course, but Alice looks ready to kill. Says the guy probably has a scent gland dysfunction that’s making it smell like he’s in rut once a week. We’ve talked to the landlord about it but the old bastard is of no help. We might just end up looking for a new place.”

Hughie grimaced at the news. That sounded god awful. Nothing was more irritating to an omega than the scent of an unmated and unwanted alpha in rut.

“Of course, Henderson won’t give me that damn raise- fucking alpha-supremist,” Robin snarled. “So it’s not like we can really afford it right now.”

Hughie thought about his own bank account which was sitting comfortably fat at the moment due to his employment at Vought. “I could always lend you-”

“No,” Robin said sternly, shutting him down immediately. “I’m not taking any money from you, Hughie. Jesus. We’ve talked about this before. You can’t just… Solve every problem by throwing your cash around.”

He furrowed his brow and frowned, “I’m not-”

“You may not think you are, but you are,” she said wryly. “Fuck- Hughie. Don’t you remember? This was like, part of the reason we broke up.”

_ You mean why you broke up with me _ , Hughie thought bitterly.

“You don’t like having people do things for you just as much as I don’t like it. And then you just… Always do this.” Robin huffed in frustration. She brushed a hand through her mess of curls, her lunch forgotten. “Sorry- I don’t want to argue. You’re having a rough time right now.”

“No, it’s fine,” Hughie replied, though his tone said that he definitely was not fine. “I’m sorry I even brought it up.”

Robin’s lips tightened into a line as she examined his sour expression. “Don’t be like that. Come on, you  _ know _ how I feel about that kind of thing. It’s not like it’s about my pride at being taken care of by an omega either. Alice and I pay for everything fifty-fifty and it’s just... Hughie, stop pouting.”

“I’m not pouting,” he said, pouting.

“You totally are,” Robin teased then sighed again. “I just… Why do we always argue about money when we’re hanging out? We’re not even together anymore for God's sake.”

“Wow, thanks for the reminder,” but his reply was mostly in jest. The mood between them eased up.

A beeping alarm went off inside of Robin’s purse. She pulled out her cell and turned it off and looked back at him with a rueful expression, “Lunch is just about over. I should be heading back to work. I’ll… Please call me if you need help or just to vent, if that’s what you need.”

He smiled at her, “I know.”

“I’m serious, Hughie,” she said sternly. “I’m here for you if you need me. Don’t hesitate to reach out. Our apartment is always open to you. I know Alice would love to see you again.”

Hughie scoffed in a jesting manner, “And have to put up with that smelly alpha neighbor of yours? No thanks.”

“You brat!” Robin exclaimed, though she was laughing. She checked her phone again, “Ah shit- Okay. I seriously need to run. Bye Hughie. Love you.” And then she was charging out of the Starbucks, looking like she was on a mission as she always did. He briefly wondered if she noticed that she had told him she loved him.

Of course she still loved him, he knew. He still loved her. That wasn’t something that was just going to change immediately after their breakup but… It wasn’t going to happen. Robin was happy with her girlfriend Alice now and Hughie…

Well. Hughie had his own problems to deal with.

~*~

When Hughie woke up the next morning (with a terrible case of ice-cream hangover) it was to several text messages on his phone from both Robin and Annie. The former was just checking back in on him after their meetup yesterday, the later was a little more frantic.

_ A: Hughie? I just heard what happened from Homelander. What’s this about you being courted by the Butchers? [12:34pm] _

_ A: Hey, are you there? Are you okay? [12:51pm] _

_ A: Translucent just walked in. He looks like he got hit hard and he reeks of alpha pheromones. I can smell you on him too. Hughie what happened? I’m worried about you. [1:05pm] _

_ A: Hughie Campbell, you answer my texts or so help me I am never going bowling with you again! [2:00pm] _

_ A: Please please answer the phone. I haven’t heard from you all day. [3:45pm] _

Hughie immediately felt guilt eat up at him from the inside. He’d seen the first text but hadn’t given it much thought because he was so focused on getting over to Robin and ranting to her. A part of him also just didn’t want to be around any more alphas for the rest of the day. And then he had gotten home and drowned himself in ice cream and crime dramas to forget the entire day. But… Annie was his friend and he’d just left her hanging like that. Not just a friend, a really really good friend and possibly the only alpha Hughie had ever found himself remotely interested in.

His thumb hesitated over the call button but he eventually did press it. It picked up after half a single ring.

_ “Hughie?”  _ Came Annie’s familiar voice, tight with worry and just the slightest tinge of anger.

“Hey, Annie,” he said with a nervous laugh. “Sorry I missed your texts. I was a bit preoccupied yesterday. So um… You heard then.”

_ “Heard? Hughie, what is going on? Why is Homelander talking about you courting the Butchers? Why did I hear it from him of all people?”  _ As always, her voice hid nothing and conveyed clearly her sense of betrayal.

Hughie shook his head even though she couldn’t see him, “It’s not like that.  _ I  _ didn’t even find out until yesterday. Plus, I haven’t exactly accepted their courtship.”

_ “What do you mean by ‘exactly’?” _

“You remember when Stillwell gave you that ultimatum about your outfit? Well, it’s not like I can exactly straight up refuse. Not if I want to keep my job.”

_ “She threatened your JOB?” _

He grimaced again and attempted to backtrack, “No. Of course not! Stillwell hasn’t done anything like that. It’s more of a Vought thing. Because let’s be honest here, after all the vetting they do for omegan matches they aren’t just going to let me walk away. And especially not when they already have so much over me. Like my job.”

_ “That is so illegal,”  _ Starlight drew out the ‘so’ dramatically.  _ “They can’t do this.” _

“They  _ shouldn’t _ ,” Hughie corrected. “But they absolutely can and will. But I think I can make this work in my favor though.”

There was silence for a moment from the other line. Then Annie spoke again, voice suspicious,  _ “I know that tone, Mister. Hughie, what have you got up your sleeve?” _

He grinned into the cell.

“Weeeelllll…..”

~*~

“I must admit, this is an excellent opportunity. You’ve outdone yourself, Madeline.”

Stillwell smiled easily at Mr. Edgar, not bothering to correct the man. Hughie sat to the side and kept his mouth shut. Despite writing the proposal, he knew that it likely wouldn’t get approved without Stillwell’s name on it. He was well used to giving up credit to get ahead in the long run and this was no different.

“Well then,” Stan Edgar said as he placed the proposal back down onto the coffee table. “This won’t be difficult to arrange. I’m sure you’ll make sure that their current manager is reassigned and properly compensated for the sudden change?”

“Of course,” Stillwell replied.

“Good, good. And you, Mr. Campbell,” suddenly the CEO was facing Hughie. “I suppose some congratulations are in order. Not only are you officially being courted by the Butchers but a promotion on top of it. I’m sure you’re quite happy.”

Not entirely true, but this was turning out better than Hughie had expected. He smiled at the man, making sure to hide any bloodlust beneath a veneer of omegan innocence, ducking his head bashfully.

“I think we are done here then,” Edgar said standing. He shook both of their hands and left the room for another appointment.

Hughie sat for a few more seconds before getting up himself to leave. But a pointed throat clear stopped him in his tracks. He looked over at Stillwell who was preoccupying herself with making tea.

“A cup?” She asked.

“Um… Sure..? I- I mean yes.”

He awkwardly sat back down as Madelyn finished making the tea. She placed their teacups on the table and sat down opposite of him. Hughie felt like he was looking into the maw of a dragon, waiting for the inevitable fires of doom.

“Hughie,” Stillwell said. “I must say I’m impressed. I really will miss having you as an assistant. You were the most competent I’ve had.”

“Um… Thank you?”

She rose an eyebrow at her and the action made her face look particularly angular and sharp. “I am surprised that you accepted this arrangement so easily and quickly.”

That struck a nerve with Hughie and he scowled. “It’s not like I had a choice exactly.”

“Of course not,” she agreed. “But I had thought you would’ve at least put up more of a fight before accepting the inevitable. Which begs the question… What exactly are you planning, Hughie?”

Hughie froze with his cup halfway to his lips. He gingerly placed it down. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean by that.”

“Oh come now, Hughie,” Stillwell said. “It’s my job to know those I’m in charge of well. And I know you well. This proposal you’ve put together,” she tapped a sharp claw against the stack of papers on the table, “is very pretty. What better way to show unity of the most famous and united couple to their chosen omega than to have him work with them? It looks very good on paper and it also forces you to spend time with them. It’s also a ploy to maneuver Vought into giving you a promotion where you would’ve lost a job.”

“Obviously…” He said this carefully.

Her eyes flashed dangerously. It was a look she usually reserved for investors and Homelander himself when she managed to manipulate and maneuver them exactly where she wanted them to be. Hughie had the privilege of seeing it many times over his career here though it had never been directed at him before.

“I’ll just say this, Hughie,” Madelyn said frostily but not without an underlying edge of dark amusement. “Do as you please, because you and I both know how hard it is to get to where we are being who we are. But- If you give me more paperwork… If I end up having to clean up after whatever plans you have in the works for those two…”

There was no need to clarify who “those two” were.

“... I’ll personally make your life here a living hell,” she finished with a vicious grin.

Hughie swallowed, very acutely reminded of why his former boss was someone to be feared. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Good,” Stillwell said, straightening back up in her seat. “Then go and do what you must.”

He stood up stiffly and made his way to the door, aware of her gaze on his back.

“Oh-” Her voice came and he paused again. “Good luck, Hughie.”

He left hastily.

~*~

The further away from Stillwell’s office he got the calmer Hughie felt. He made his way down vaguely familiar halls until he reached a room he only rarely had need to come to. Hughie watched with some vague satisfaction as a man bustled around in a huff packing up boxes of stuff. The man paused when he saw Hughie watching from the hall and scowled.

“You job stealing little  _ slut _ -!” The man began when suddenly a fist flew into the wall by his head, cracking the plaster and cement and leaving behind a dent. The man, who was formerly the personal manager for the Butchers, paled.

“Want to run that by me again, George,” Billy said with a menacing grin. When the man shook his head and didn’t reply, the supe patted him on the back. “Atta boy. That’s what I thought. Now go finish packing up. Can’t you see you’re wasting our time?”

The man, George Carland, hastily nodded and ran back into the office.

“How did he ever do his job if he’s scared shitless of you like that?” Hughie asked with a frown.

Billy looked up at him, eyes softening but a dangerous grin still in place. “He didn’t. Pretty sure the missus and I are the dark sheep of the Twelve. The arse couldn’t do his job for shit.”

Hughie considered this for a second. “Guess I have my work cut out for me.”

“Think you can handle it, cupcake?”

Hughie felt his own grin coming onto his face and fought to keep a mania of it down as he thought of all his plans. He was going to make them  _ regret  _ fucking with him. Enough of this pushover omega bullshit. They want to court him so badly? Well, they’re gonna get him. “Oh. Absolutely.”

A hand was suddenly thrust into his space and Hughie, who had been lost in thought, started at it for a moment in confusion.

“I look forward to our partnership then,” Billy Butcher said.

Slowly Hughie reached forward and grasped the supe’s hand with his own. It was much larger than his and hotter too, enveloping his own hand tightly. He didn’t want to admit that it felt kinda nice. He met Butcher’s steel grey eyes.

“I look forward to working with you two,” he answered with a grin.


End file.
